2025 Wold Behavioral Vision Seminar and Southern California Regional Vision Therapists Forum

2025 Wold Behavioral Vision Seminar and Southern California Regional Vision Therapists Forum

More Information and registration: www.behavioralvisionseminar.com/home

One of the last of its kind, this meeting has been operating annually since the 1970’s. With an emphasis on diagnosis and treatment for vision disorders, vision therapy and rehab; this meeting equips an optometrist with tools to implement in their practice asap. This family like environment is a great opportunity to network and connect about VT and neuro-rehab.

Speakers:

Details on: The origins of strabismus: a developmental and neurological perspective of strabismus.

Curtis Baxstrom,OD,FOVDR,FNORA,FAAO, COEP

Strabismus is often evaluated and managed from an accommodative/convergence model.  This model is beneficial but may limit treatment considerations for the clinician.  A more wholistic model including the development of vision with the neurology of vision provides a much stronger and cohesive model from which to evaluate and treat.  Evaluation of a patient who presents with strabismus should include an evaluation for the type of strabismus (infantile, accommodative, excess, etc.) but should also include the effects of visual motion processing, bilateral vestibular and motor foundations and so much more.  Lastly vision isn’t simply sensory or motor, it is sensory motor as the reciprocal relationship of them is critical to the adapted condition.  We will look at these origins and how we can modify vision therapy to make it even more efficacious for better outcomes. This is accomplished with the application of lenses, prism, selective occlusion, tints/filters and vision therapy/rehabilitation.

This course will address the concepts and questions below on how to accurately and systematically evaluate and manage the presentation of strabismus in your patients based on developmental and neurological concepts.

Concepts will include:

-What keeps the infants eyes straight at birth?

-Are you born binocular or do you develop it?

-Can you change the vergence angle or do you simply build fusional ranges?

-What are the critical differences between developmental vs. acquired strabismus?

-How do we effectively treat Infantile vs. later onset developmental strabismus?

-What is the etiology of decompensated phorias

-How does visual motion, vestibular input and cervical input affect strabismus?

-What is the difference between suppression and lack of peripheral awareness?

The black and white answer…”IT DEPENDS!”

The key is to evaluate the developmental and neurological correlates of strabismus to help guide the use of the appropriate optometric tools.  In addition, we will contrast the ophthalmological viewpoints of including monocular patching and surgical intervention.  The attendee will return to their office with a better understanding of how to meet the visual needs of each individual patient.